Bryce Cartwright has been dropped to the bench, with Will Matthews starting in the back row, Jai Arrow shifting to lock and Ryan James moving to prop. Keegan Hipgrave is suspended for one match, replaced on the bench by Max King, while Morgan Boyle drops out of the 17.

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That's a better looking team this week. That middle with Dark moving back in field and Arrow moving to lock too is much improved. Should wake Cartwright up and hopefully he can come on and provide some spark around the tired middles. And Boyle has sadly not been up to standard with Max King outshining him. Hopefully see some improvement this week (hopefully being the word).

I quite like that team, with Jai arrow at lock and Will Mathews starting. Still not sure about the Elgey conundrum, don't want to see Cartwright in 5/8, but don't think it is smart to blood AJ whilst we are performing poorly.

I think it’s a terrible shame that after a full summer of working on having James/LG combining on the Left Edge that the Coach has had to give that plan up after only 3 rounds.

It reflects very poorly on Boyle, Cartwright, Latu and Peats in particular who through their pitifully weak efforts in the engine room have resulted in us having to resort to a reactionary game plan.

I would like this to be a Brennan mind game and that come kick off there’s a late change with Matthews going to the bench, James to 2nd row, Cartwright (who’s getting very close to becoming my next whipping boy) staying on the bench and King starting the game at prop.

Agree that Elg is struggling but who do we bring in? Brimson? He needs to show he can be dominant in cup first IMO. Tweed are yet to win a game...

"My god I am shredded. I can't believe I got to this point in my life where literally every person that sees me is saying words like "mirin" and "arnie, that you?". It's boring, sure. But it's part of my life."-DavidBouveng

I think we have been exposed as having a worrying lack of depth in the halves. Someone else needs to be in that 6 jersey. But who?
Sorry to say it but Elgey is not up to the job in defence and attack. He seems to have lost all self confidence.

Well TitsFan you will find LG will get hooked pretty quick if he resembles anything like last weeks performance and Carty will get the next shot at 6.
Not saying it is a great option (could turn out to be) but our only realistic option at this stage.
Anyways, heres hoping LG as the best game of his life...

Making the Titans Brisbane's second NRL club could be one way to save the franchise’s future

WHEN he stepped into the furnace that is life as the ARL Commission chairman, Peter Beattie made a compelling statement about the NRL’s need to expand or die.

The ARL Commission would be prudent to consider another option — relocation.

Specifically, the code’s decision-makers should consider shifting the Gold Coast licence to establish a second NRL team in Brisbane.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction to the Titans’ 54-8 loss to the Dragons last week in Toowoomba. Most teams cop a hammering at some point.

CONTENDERS: Where should the NRL expand?

BENCHED: Brennan backs demoted Cartwright

Ashley Taylor walks off after the Dragons rout. (AAP Image/Darren England)
The Titans will bounce back on the field, but whether they can truly flourish off it is the million-dollar question.

If the governing body is serious about maximising the potential of the NRL, it needs to consider the geographical challenges of the Gold Coast and the more prosperous opportunities in Brisbane.

As it stands, the Titans are a financial basket case.

And in a Gold Coast region littered with carcasses from a coterie of top-level sports, no one can table a bulletproof argument that the area is commercially fertile enough to sustain an NRL team.

Coach Garth Brennan is already under pressure. (Jason O'Brien/Getty Images)
I truly hope the club’s new owners Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl Kelly prove me wrong because they, along with CEO Graham Annesley and chairman Dennis Watt, are clever operators with a desire to succeed on the Gold Coast.

But if the Titans can’t turn a profit before the next TV deal in 2023, the NRL should close the doors and shift the licence to Brisbane.

Last year, the Titans lost $3.17 million. Since 2014, they have haemorrhaged $12.62m.

This season, they will post another deficit, albeit significantly smaller given the generous $12.3 million grant from the NRL to each of the 16 clubs.

What would long-suffering Gold Coast fans make of it? (Scott Fletcher)
Where the red ink stops is anyone’s guess, but the one certainty is this: Brisbane is a bigger, more populated and more commercially robust market than the Gold Coast.

Surely someone on the ARL Commission can see the absurdity in the NRL possessing just one team — the Brisbane Broncos — in Queensland’s most populous city.

Brisbane is home to 2.2 million people. The Gold Coast has a population of 577,000, many of whom are transient types more concerned with the bright lights and sights of Cavill Avenue.

Brisbane’s only team, the Broncos, last year posted record revenue of $42 million.

That figure suggests there is untapped millions and a slew of sponsorship opportunities for a second Brisbane team compared to the corporate battle the Titans wage every year.

If the NRL is concerned about losing a turf war with the AFL on the Gold Coast, they need not worry.

The AFL’s Suns have the bark and bite of a French poodle, relying on ludicrous handouts from the AFL ($25 million last year) just to maintain some semblance of a heartbeat.

The Suns’ threat is minimal, and harnessed anyway by their existence in a smaller market. Two NRL clubs in Brisbane, boasting three times as many people as the Gold Coast, would ostensibly crush the AFL’s Lions in the more critical southeast Queensland sector.

Of course, winning is a vital currency, and the Titans have lost their mojo.

Since making the 2010 preliminary final, they have won just 64 of 172 games. Only Newcastle have won fewer games (62) over the same seven-year period.

The time is now for the Titans to put their stamp on the Gold Coast.

Otherwise, the NRL should walk away forever and give the Broncos a true competitor.

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I seriously don’t Understand why we cooperate with Badel and the CM
I’d ban them and only talk to The Bulletin and Local TV Station Reporters and Sydney Media.

I’d publicise it too so that it’s well known.

I mean FFS we just got new owners, new Coach, new board, new staff and it’s Round 3 and they are at it already.

Anyway, good to see we have a coach who can see some of our issues and is not scared to address them. It is a welcome change.

Most here have been critical of Latu, and given our limited middle forwards he didn't have many options but to shift James. Also Arrow at lock will tighten up a lot around the middle. Brennan was prepared to bench 2 of his big signings from Panthers so no playing favourites.

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